ITF collaborates with IOC on new Olympic Esports Series 2023
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is among a number of International Federations and games publishers to have collaborated with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the Olympic Esports Series 2023 – which has been announced today.
A global virtual and simulated sports competition created by the IOC, the series will see both professional and amateur players from around the world invited to take part in qualification rounds across the featured games.
The featured tennis game is Tennis Clash, developed by Wildlife Studios. The ITF has worked in partnership with Wildlife Studios since 2021 when it first brought the Billie Jean King Cup, the women's World Cup of Tennis, to mobile devices.
The initially confirmed featured games across nine sports are:
- Archery (World Archery Federation, Tic Tac Bow)
- Baseball (World Baseball Softball Confederation, WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS)
- Chess (International Chess Federation, Chess.com)
- Cycling (UCI, Zwift)
- Dance (World DanceSport Federation, JustDance)
- Motor sport (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, Gran Turismo)
- Sailing (World Sailing, Virtual Regatta)
- Taekwondo (World Taekwondo, Virtual Taekwondo)
- Tennis (International Tennis Federation, Tennis Clash)
The Olympic Esports Series 2023 will culminate in live, in-person finals for the first time, with players having the opportunity to progress to the Olympic Esports Finals 2023. Taking place at Singapore’s Suntec Centre from 22 to 25 June, the finals action will be a highlight of the recently announced Olympic Esports Week 2023.
Coming together in Singapore for this unique competition, the players will compete in front of fans for the prestigious title of Olympic Esports Series winner. The thrilling finals action will be streamed globally across Olympics.com and Olympic social channels.
This evolved format of the IOC’s virtual competition builds on the successes of the Olympic Virtual Series. The 2021 series, which took place ahead of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, attracted over 250,000 participants from across 100 countries to take part in competitions. The Olympic Esports Series 2023 marks another step in supporting the development of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement, as laid out in Olympic Agenda 2020+5, and continues its collaboration with the gaming and esports communities to create new opportunities for players and fans alike.
Kelly Fairweather, ITF Chief Executive Officer, said: “We’re delighted to be part of the Olympic Esports Series 2023 and congratulate the IOC on developing such an exciting format. We are pleased to be continuing our collaboration with Wildlife Studios as part of this series, and hope to see tennis fans old and new getting involved. As the global guardians of tennis, it is vital that we find more and more innovative ways to attract new audiences to our sport as we continue our mission to grow tennis for future generations. This is another important step on that journey.”
“Wildlife Studios is thrilled to be joining the Olympic Esports Series,” said Dotan Arad, General Manager of Tennis Clash. “Our priority has always been to provide our players with the finest content and experiences, and the OES enables us to achieve just that while expanding our collaboration with the ITF. We cannot wait to see the outcome of this project and contribute towards making it truly exceptional.”
Speaking at the announcement, David Lappartient, Chair of the IOC Esports Liaison Group, said: “The Olympic Movement brings people together in peaceful competition. The Olympic Esports Series 2023 is a continuation of that, with the ambition of creating more spaces to play for both players and fans of elite competition. We look forward to witnessing some of the world’s best compete on the global stage, as well as exploring together shared opportunities and lessons - across health and wellbeing, training and innovation.”
This follows the recent announcement that Singapore will host the first Olympic Esports Week 2023. Created in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Sport Singapore and the Singapore National Olympic Committee (SNOC), the four-day festival will showcase the very best of virtual sports – including technology exhibitions, show matches, expert panel discussions, and the first live finals of the Olympic Esports Series. The full programme and ticket details for the Olympic Esports Week 2023 will be revealed in April.
To receive details on additional featured games across sports that will be added to the Olympic Esports Series 2023, and how to take part, players and fans can visit Olympics.com or sign up to receive Olympic news here.